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Rockets pair superstar with Yao and gain imposing offensive punch in 7-player trade
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
T-Mac and Yao. Yao and T-Mac. The idea seduced the Rockets with possibilities. The Rockets imagined Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming together, and Tuesday, after a week teased by the notion of a blockbuster trade on the brink of completion, put the league's scoring champion with its presumed next great center and envisioned what they could become.

"Bring me a championship, big man," he said. "Bring me a championship. I've led the league in scoring two consecutive years. As long as we win, that's all that matters to me. I'm going to try to go in there and do what I do. If that consists of me sacrificing, giving Yao the ball and playing through other guys, that's what I'll do."

After initial reluctance he wore the nickname and all it suggested publicly and proudly. But he became the lightning rod of public debate and frustration. This season's playoff berth was his first.

In McGrady, the Rockets bring in one of the NBA's most sensational and celebrated stars in the hopes he and Yao could become the next great tandem.

"Sitting back and seeing Kobe and how much freedom he has because of Shaq, that's what I need to win a championship," McGrady told Florida Today. "They have a great coach in Jeff Van Gundy and they are going to do the things there to put the right pieces around me and Yao so that we can win a championship."

SI.com:

WHY THE ROCKETS MADE THE DEAL

Tracy McGrady is a top-five player. He can score, pass, rebound, block shots and, yes, defend (when he puts his mind to it). Last season was an aberration. Frustrated by the losing and bothered by a bad back, he simply put it in cruise control. With a chance to play for a good team and a demanding coach in Jeff Van Gundy, McGrady should bounce back strong if he stays healthy.

THE BOTTOM LINE by SI.com's Marty Burns

With McGrady and Yao joining forces, the Rockets are instant title contenders. It might take a year or two for Van Gundy to add a few more pieces and get his system in place, but Houston can expect to vault into the NBA's elite. Van Gundy knows how to construct stifling defensive units. Now, for the first time, he's got a superstar scorer to go with it. As long as T-Mac agrees to do his part on D -- and his balky back cooperates -- the Rockets should be terrific. As for the Magic, they better hope Dwight Howard blossoms quickly. NBA champions generally are built around superstars, and while Francis is an All-Star, he is not of McGrady's caliber. Never mind that the Magic were afraid of losing McGrady to free agency next season. If T-Mac goes on to win an NBA title in Houston, it will rank with losing Shaq on the list of all-time Magic blunders.

Haha...and then you see JONATHAN FEIGEN today writing some things that maybe considered out of hand and shots at T-Mac. He was the next biggest thing to hit this city, one of the biggest trades to have happened in the Rockets organization. Everyone was happy, the city was glowing, new expectations, and excitement.

But who knew 5 years later there would be so many unsolved problems?
25 year old McGrady paired with 23 year old Yao; 5 years later, battled injuries, 0 playoff series wins, and yet more hope.

Also credit clutchfans archives for this finding good memories, but hopefully they don't turn into ones that should be forgotten

Can we lock this? Just saying lol

lol, how times change.

I still have that clipping in my closet.

Feigen hasn't taken any digs at McGrady that I've seen...

HTown_TMac wrote:Can we lock this? Just saying lol

Oh come on! lol

Well Tracy said to expect something great in Houston.. I guess he meant about how great he feels when he sits on the bench.

You guys can make fun of him all you want. Your not any better then him. Your turning your back on Tracy the same way you guys claim hes turning back on his team. If T-Mac was a pu$$y he wouldnt be here beleive me. Theirs so many injuries with this guy its not prodictobale from day to day you dont know what to expect. But unlike you i havnt 4gotten how T-Mac was the only one busting his ass in the playoffs against Dallas and Utah. I dont care what anyone says, theirs something wrong with Tracy thats beyond his control.

Instead of turning your back on the man that lead us the past 5 years. Lets pray for him to get healthier and hope for the best!!!!

franchise73 wrote:You guys can make fun of him all you want. Your not any better then him. Your turning your back on Tracy the same way you guys claim hes turning back on his team. If T-Mac was a pu$$y he wouldnt be here beleive me. Theirs so many injuries with this guy its not prodictobale from day to day you dont know what to expect. But unlike you i havnt 4gotten how T-Mac was the only one busting his ass in the playoffs against Dallas and Utah. I dont care what anyone says, theirs something wrong with Tracy thats beyond his control.

Instead of turning your back on the man that lead us the past 5 years. Lets pray for him to get healthier and hope for the best!!!!

Well said. How quickly people forget that he's been the absolute only one who's done anything for us in the playoffs, and has led this team the past two years when Yao's been injured. Lately, He's played awful, it's true, but we saw flashes of how good we can be when he came back after some rest. McGrady's physical problems are clearly bothering him mentally, as well. I think it's starting to frustrate him, and he doesn't want to try to do too much and hurt the team. But he has to realize that this team needs him to score for them to stand a chance.

He showed me that he really does care after losing in game 7 against Utah two years ago, and in game 6 last year. He just physically isn't able to get it done right now. The lack of loyalty here is sickening.

T-Wack wrote:

franchise73 wrote:You guys can make fun of him all you want. Your not any better then him. Your turning your back on Tracy the same way you guys claim hes turning back on his team. If T-Mac was a pu$$y he wouldnt be here beleive me. Theirs so many injuries with this guy its not prodictobale from day to day you dont know what to expect. But unlike you i havnt 4gotten how T-Mac was the only one busting his ass in the playoffs against Dallas and Utah. I dont care what anyone says, theirs something wrong with Tracy thats beyond his control.

Instead of turning your back on the man that lead us the past 5 years. Lets pray for him to get healthier and hope for the best!!!!

Well said. How quickly people forget that he's been the absolute only one who's done anything for us in the playoffs, and has led this team the past two years when Yao's been injured. Lately, He's played awful, it's true, but we saw flashes of how good we can be when he came back after some rest. McGrady's physical problems are clearly bothering him mentally, as well. I think it's starting to frustrate him, and he doesn't want to try to do too much and hurt the team. But he has to realize that this team needs him to score for them to stand a chance.

He showed me that he really does care after losing in game 7 against Utah two years ago, and in game 6 last year. He just physically isn't able to get it done right now. The lack of loyalty here is sickening.

You mean lack of loyalty to the team? As in.....

-missing 3 out of the next 6 games
-Making excuses on why he can't score or doesn't want to score "We got so many players who can score" lol i guess he meant Rafer or Battier, who starts with him.
-Lack of Rehab during the off season, dude had what 6-7 months
-Lack of killer instinct throughout his career aka close game 2 points and T-mac goes up for a long jumper, while he could of taken it to the hoop and create contact.. dont' say Yao is our closer, no T-mac should be our numero uno option on winning the game.
-Playing defense (sure blame it injuries, but even past articles mention he is lazy on defense)
-Walking up the court on a fast break

Sure its not all his fault that the Rockets haven't gotten out of the first round, but when you make 21 million dollars a year, those items above better be addressed.

Like I said "He is Done", this whole thing "Wait until Playoffs is crap", if we get out of the 1st round its going to because Artest and Yao pick up the slack along with the rest of the team. Not because T-mac decides he is going to show up for a 7 game series. If he does show up, I guarentee you the Rockets team are going to wonder, WTF has he been doing during the regular season.

The last game did me in, 1 fking drive to the hoop the whole night. 1, just 1. He sat out for almost 2 weeks so he can comeback 80-90% but its the same ****.

You know why he had a triple-double when he came back, its because he actually put in effort. Look at the games nown, his whole body language reeks of "I don't give a ****".

You combine lack of killer instinct with "I dont' give a ****" = "He is Done"

Finally if he is so injured, than he needs to just sit until he is healthy. Its better this way, its better for the team knowing we don't have to worry about T-mac playing today, tomorrow, next day.

Me personally, I am a big T-Mac fan, but how can you not be disappointed at what you have seen so far? I hardly think anyone is turning their back on Tracy. It is just that people like to see progress. Then you say what he has done for us in the playoffs... If he keeps what he is doing up we will be battling for a playoff spot. I am not turning my back on T-Mac and I know he is not done. I just want him to know how disappointing this is for his fans. I know that you cannot control you injuries, but rehabbing the right way this summer would have been better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ioHluQ5dbI&fmt=18

You can hear him say that , just play this , and his quotes:"It's on me" , "It's good to finally be in the 2nd round" before every game and he will give his best every night lol.

Well we might be angry at McGrady right now; he might even deserve the criticism, but just thought I'd bring this article up, at the time the trade was huge for the entire city of Houston. Its something Steve Francis could have never given us, a phenomenal superstar that was paired to counter the "Shaq/Kobe" duo. To bad Kobe already went to the finals without Shaq yeah, but its clear hes worn out his welcome. He arrived in Houston as the biggest thing, but as of right now hes probably the most bi-polar player on this team.

this thread is pointless.

bballmaniac27 wrote:this thread is pointless.

k, then refute to post.

I also remember when he said at the press conference
"Something great is going to happen in the city of Houston"

It's ironic that T-Mac is the only player left that is still with the team he got traded too.

Feigen is a joke, he and his friend at CF

Feigen is the best basketball reporter at the Chronicle. Hands down.

Dude, you know RealGM policy is 3 paragraphs and a link. Gonna have to lock it if you don't fix it.

Sadly, we only got 1 year of the McGrady we traded for.

Vator wrote:Dude, you know RealGM policy is 3 paragraphs and a link. Gonna have to lock it if you don't fix it.

Yeah....couldn't find a link, but I'll cut it off at 3 paragraphs if that's alright?